It will be a battle of two struggling teams tonight at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
On one side you have a Detroit Red Wings team that has played poorly and looks like a shell of itself despite their 3-3-0 record. The Red Wings have been outshot by almost 10 per game on average and have lost three consecutive contests.
On the other side you have a Calgary Flames team that has been even worse as they've lost four in a row and have gotten off to their worst start (0-4-0) in franchise history on home ice.
Tonight one of these teams will take the first step towards righting the ship while things will go from bad to worse for another.
LINEUPS Gaudreau - Monahan - Hudler Ferland - Backlund - Frolik Colborne - Bennett - Jones Raymond - Stajan - Jooris
Giordano - Wideman Russell - Engelland Smid - Hamilton
Hiller
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Larkin - Zetterberg - Abdelkader Tatar - Sheahan - Nyquist Helm - Richards - Pulkkinen Miller - Glendening - Ferraro
Kronwall - Ericsson DeKeyser - Green Quincey - Kindl
Howard
KEYS TO THE GAME 1) Goaltending. It's always a key but even more so for a struggling team. If the Flames fall behind a couple early they're more likely to bury their head in the sand than fight back with the way things have been going. They desperately need a quality start from Jonas Hiller.
2) 5 vs 5 play. The Avalanche are the only team that has been worse in possession than Detroit. The Flames need to take advantage of that and make something happen at full strength because the Red Wings aren't a team that gifts games because of undisciplined play.
3) Keeping things even. The Flames are obviously not playing well right now in any facet of the game so the last thing they need is to shoot themselves in the foot with bad penalties. Keep things even and give yourself a chance.
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